It is currently a problem for users to discover which software applications (hereinafter referred to as an “app” or “apps”) they might want to download or purchase for both mobile and non-mobile devices.
The top app stores (e.g. Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Amazon App Store) generally have tens or hundreds of thousands of apps, making it hard for developers to get their apps discovered by users once they have submitted their apps to these stores. App stores themselves tend to have limited “shelf space” where, generally speaking, only apps near the top of their respective lists (Top Paid, Top Free, Top Educational, etc.) get visibility, while the rest go unnoticed.
App store search capability is also quite anemic since developing page-rank-style algorithms for apps is difficult given the lack of semantic information about apps as compared to the web. App store searches are also often deficient in the most rudimentary search assistance one would expect on a web search. For example, whereas a web search engine may correct a user's spelling or suggest alternate spellings for an item being searched, app store search engines often fail if the exact spelling for an app or category of app is not entered in the way in which the search engine indexes the app.
Accordingly, what is desired is a system and method for allowing apps to be discovered and experienced even if those apps are not readily visible in the app stores.